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The Suffolk Department of Social Services will be holding a job fair where they are looking for candidates willing to assist and protect.

The department will host the fair from 4 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at Fire Station 6, located at 300 Kings Fork Rd. and will be hiring for several Family Services Specialist positions in Child Protective Services, Adult Protective Services, Foster Care and Intake. 

During a Wednesday, Oct. 9 interview, Family Services Supervisor for CPS In-Home and Prevention Unit Melissa Carroll and Senior Family Services Specialist for CPS In-Home and Prevention Unit Julia Wright both discussed the positions, what qualities they are looking for in candidates and more. Carroll discussed what attendees can expect from the fair.

“When they come in, of course, the expectation is to interview them and hopefully provide some type of conditional offer just based on their experience,” Carroll said.

Attendees will be able to apply and interview on-site, however, pre-registration is recommended for attendees to pick their interested position and their available time slot. Background checks will be included. Benefits include competitive pay as well as paid holidays and time off. Carroll further detailed CPS’ work as investigators who look into allegations of abuse – neglect, medical, or sexual – within the City of Suffolk.

“A part of their job is to find out these allegations that’s being reported if they’re true or if they are false. Once they get the case, it’s based on just timing of when they need to respond out. If it’s immediate, if it’s within two days, or if it’s [within] the five days. Our workers have to be on guard, and I always tell people with CPS, we’re sort of like police. We’re on the job right there, hands on, step by step, and we do partner with them on some of our CPS cases,” Carroll said. “So to get just an understanding of just the CPS portion, we just want to ensure the safety is there for these children and that there’s no risk involved. We not only just look at, not just the child, but we look at the family as a whole.”

On Adult Protective Services positions, Carroll says it’s the “same scenario” but a “different direction” noting senior adults ages 65 and up as well as mentally disabled adults ages 18 to 60 receiving services. Wright notes that both protective services must do on-call duty and must be available 24 hours a day. Carroll says that Foster Care positions will have employees working with children who are in the care and custody with the City of Suffolk after being removed from an abusive home. 

“So with our foster care team, they are there to sort of like, be that extra cushion. That extra, I call it ‘big brother’ or ‘big sister,’ that ‘case manager,’ that parent that’s not there to let them know that ‘You’re safe, you’re okay,’” Carroll said. “However, the goal is still to get that parent on board to do services because the whole mindset is to put that child back, not in that abusive environment, but in an environment that’s stable.”

Carroll says Foster Care also sees the position being involved with various entities, including guideline counselors, the school board, the court system, truancy officers and more. Wright discussed Intake positions, where they assist families in a crisis situation.

“They may need assistance with their water bill, light bill, rent, they’re facing eviction, or their lights have been turned off, and they come to us. Sometimes, a lot of times, we’ll hear ‘Social Services, you were the last result. So I didn’t want to come here, but this is where I’m at.’ So what we do, we try to determine whether or not we’re able to assist them.” Wright said.

Wright says that Intake receives some of the truancy cases from the schools, notably ones where parents are connected to TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). Along with providing assistance with food, prescription and house fires, Intake also works with local nonprofits such as the Suffolk Salvation Army, Coalition Against Poverty in Suffolk and more. Wright discussed how the position works with parents wanting to be relieved of custody.

“They think they can just go to court? No. You have to come into Prevention, you have to open up a case, and we have to try to put some services in place to see if we can rectify whatever the issue may [be] and sometimes it’s small things,” she said.

Applicants must have a Bachelor’s Degree with a focus in either Human Services, Counseling, Sociology, Social Work and Psychology. Overall DSS experience is also looked at as well. On what attributes they are looking for in candidates, Carroll says that compassion, empathy and patience are a must due to working with various families daily.

“So you want to be able to connect with different diversity, different backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds, different races. And I always tell people one thing is a big, big thing for me coming in the door. Everybody does not have it, but you have to have cultural competency,” she said. “Because, my racial background might be the same as yours, does not mean that we were raised the same. We go through different things. So you have to have an underlying understanding of just different households, different languages…”

Carroll notes that it’s been a “struggle” for the CPS team due to lack of staffing and the growing caseload while commending the current staff staying throughout the process, however, Carroll she believes the fair will help turn things around for DSS.

“Because, of course, once we get these positions filled, we can start having units that are fully staffed. Because we have not been fully staffed for quite a while…,” Carroll said. “So these positions, by getting this job fair and putting these workers in position, we can truly say that Suffolk will eventually, if they accept, will be fully staffed and those caseloads that are falling by the wayside a little bit will be able to be managed a little easier.”

Lastly, Carroll says DSS is looking forward to seeing applicants at the fair.

“…like I stated, if they do decide to join our team, it’s a family. We’d love to have them. So of course, it’s almost like if they come through the door, they’re going to have a friend for life,” she said. “So yeah, we’re looking forward to this job fair and what’s to come.”

For more information, go to suffolkva.attract.neogov.com.